Household energy efficiency in the UK

Over the past three years, policy towards the taxation of energy has been debated vigorously. In 1991 the European Commission proposed a new carbon/energy tax as part of a package of measures intended to reduce energy use and to help the Community meet international targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other $lsquo;greenhouse gases’. This would have applied to both domestic and industrial users of energy and motor fuels. Also, in the area of UK domestic policy, the Chancellor’s 1993 Budget announced the phased extension of the standard rate of value added tax to domestic energy, which had hitherto been zero-rated in the UK. The extension of standard-rate VAT to domestic energy was primarily motivated by the need for increased tax revenues, but, at the same time, the Government maintained that the measure would have the valuable byproduct of reducing energy consumption, and hence contributing to achievement of targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Reflecting the real world?: How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005

TV audiences are fed up with how the developing world is portrayed on the small screen, according to a new VSO report published today. Reflecting the real world? How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005 reveals that television viewers have an overwhelmingly negative view of the developing world and that they hold TV responsible. The report shows that viewers have a real appetite for richer representations of the world outside the UK and calls on broadcasters to invest more money, creativity and talent in bringing the world to UK audiences. The report is based on interviews with TV viewers and leading broadcasters. It shows that despite the high level of developing world coverage on TV over the last year, there has been no sign of a positive shift in public attitude. TV viewers associated the developing world with famine, disaster and corruption and people's initial image was very often of starving babies with flies around their eyes. The research highlights that news coverage and charity campaigns have also contributed to a feeling that the developing world is a hopeless cause. News reporting of the Asian Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake brought people's attention to poorer countries but reinforced a doom-laden view of them. Even the Make Poverty History campaign and the Live 8 concerts, which enthused millions of people, appear to have inadvertently contrived to confirm a stereotype of Africa as a continent on its knees and added to a sense that nothing has changed over the last 20 years. The research uncovered a very strong sentiment that TV coverage of developing countries is too negative. Viewers expressed a desire to see the positive side of life in the developing world and hear about any progress being made. Crucially, they wanted TV programmes that were positive and transforming, challenged their perceptions, and contained human interest stories, real-life issues and characters they can relate to. Their ideas for new developing world programming tended to reflect their favourite genres and included Jamie's African School Dinners, Life Swap, African Grand Designs, Spooks or 24 in Africa and Africa's Next Top Model

Firm Level Volatility-Return Analysis using Dynamic Panels

This paper examines "leverage" and volatility feedback effects at the firm level by considering both market effects and firm level effects, using 242 individual firm stock data in the US market. We adopt a panel vector autoregressive framework which allows us to control simultaneously for common business cycle effects, unobserved cross correlation effects in return and volatility via industry effects, and heterogeneity across firms. Our results suggest that volatility feedback effects at the firm level are present due to both market effects and firm effects, though the market volatility feedback effect is stronger than the corresponding firm level effect. We also find that the leverage effect at the firm level is persistent, significant and negative, while the effect of market return on firm volatility is persistent, significant and positive. The presence of these effects is further explored through the responses of the model's variables to market-wide return and volatility shocks.Volatility Feedback; Stock Return; Leverage Effects; Panel Vector Autoregression

Supply, demand and monetary policy shocks in a multi-country New Keynesian Model

This paper estimates and solves a multi-country version of the standard DSGE New Keynesian (NK) model. The country-specific models include a Phillips curve determining inflation, an IS curve determining output, a Taylor Rule determining interest rates, and a real effective exchange rate equation. The IS equation includes a real exchange rate variable and a countryspecific foreign output variable to capture direct inter-country linkages. In accord with the theory all variables are measured as deviations from their steady states, which are estimated as long-horizon forecasts from a reduced-form cointegrating global vector autoregression. The resulting rational expectations model is then estimated for 33 countries on data for 1980Q1-2006Q4, by inequality constrained IV, using lagged and contemporaneous foreign variables as instruments, subject to the restrictions implied by the NK theory. The multi-country DSGE NK model is then solved to provide estimates of identified supply, demand and monetary policy shocks. Following the literature, we assume that the within country supply, demand and monetary policy shocks are orthogonal, though shocks of the same type (e.g. supply shocks in different countries) can be correlated. We discuss estimation of impulse response functions and variance decompositions in such large systems, and present estimates allowing for both direct channels of international transmission through regression coefficients and indirect channels through error spillover effects. Bootstrapped error bands are also provided for the cross country responses of a shock to the US monetary policy. JEL Classification: C32, E17, F37, F42demand shocks, Global VAR (GVAR), monetary policy shocks, New Keynesian DSGE models, supply shocks

What if the UK had Joined the Euro in 1999? An Empirical Evaluation Using a Global VAR

This paper attempts to provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of counterfactual scenarios using macroeconometric models. As an application we consider UK entry to the euro. Entry involves a long-term commitment to restrict UK nominal exchange rates and interest rates to be the same as those of the euro area. We derive conditional probability distributions for the difference between the future realisations of variables of interest (e.g UK and euro area output and prices) subject to UK entry restrictions being fully met over a given period and the alternative realisations without the restrictions. The robustness of the results can be evaluated by also conditioning on variables deemed to be invariant to UK entry, such as oil or US equity prices. Economic interdependence means that such policy evaluation must take account of international linkages and common factors that drive fluctuations across economies. In this paper this is accomplished using the Global VAR recently developed by Dees, di Mauro, Pesaran and Smith (2005). The paper briefly describes the GVAR which has been estimated for 25 countries and the euro area over the period 1979-2003. It reports probability estimates that output will be higher and prices lower in the UK and the euro area as a result of entry. It examines the sensitivity of these results to a variety of assumptions about when and how the UK entered and the observed global shocks and compares them with the effects of Swedish entry.Global VAR (GVAR), counterfactual analysis, UK and Sweden entry to Euro

Panel Unit Root Tests in the Presence of a Multifactor Error Structure

This paper extends the cross sectionally augmented panel unit root test proposed by Pesaran (2007) to the case of a multifactor error structure. The basic idea is to exploit information regarding the unobserved factors that are shared by other time series in addition to the variable under consideration. Importantly, our test procedure only requires specification of the maximum number of factors, in contrast to other panel unit root tests based on principal components that require in addition the estimation of the number of factors as well as the factors themselves. Small sample properties of the proposed test are investigated by Monte Carlo experiments, which suggest that it controls well for size in almost all cases, especially in the presence of serial correlation in the error term, contrary to alternative test statistics. Empirical applications to Fisher’s inflation parity and real equity prices across different markets illustrate how the proposed test works in practice

Reimagining Equitable Care: Simulation-Based Education and the Dismantling of Implicit Bias and Stigma of Vulnerable Populations in Hospitals

Background: Simulation-based education consists of using high-fidelity mannequins and equipment to provide a safe space for healthcare professionals to practice crucial skills within healthcare. Used within hospitals and schools, simulation most commonly surrounds practicing hands-on skills such as central line insertion, IV insertion, Ultrasound-guided procedures, code blue response, etc. However, a large portion of healthcare that is overlooked is tackling issues within patient-provider relationships. Simulation can help dismantle the negative behaviors and feelings providers push onto patients through the use of standardized patients and role-playing. By using these methods, simulation can reduce providers’ personal implicit biases and the stigma associated with the identity of certain patients. Emotional intelligence in providers is vital to the quality of care community members receive. Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of simulation-based education on the reduction of Implicit Bias and Stigma healthcare providers have when caring for vulnerable populations in Hospitals Hypothesis: Simulation-based education, when used properly and consistently, can substantially reduce healthcare providers’ personal implicit bias and stigma towards vulnerable populations and increase equitable care across hospitals in the U.S

Evaluation of wind turbine towers under the simultaneous application of seismic, operation and wind loads

2013 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Wind turbines are widely recognized as a renewable energy resource and as such, their safety and reliability must be ensured. Many studies have been completed on the blade rotor and nacelle components of wind turbines under wind and operation loads. While several studies have focused on idealized wind turbine models, significant advancements on the global and local performance of these models under seismic loads in combination with other loads has been lacking. A study on the evaluation and performance of realistic wind turbine models under wind, operation and seismic loads is proposed and successfully completed. First, the geometry and loading for three wind turbine models are developed. A series of finite element analyses is conducted for each model under a variety of load combinations and earthquake records. Both global results and localized behavior were obtained for each analysis in order to identify areas of improvement within the wind turbine structure. Global results include drift ratios, normalized base shear and fast Fourier transformations to evaluate the stability of the wind turbine during operation. Localized performance focused on the welded connection at the base of the turbine and included Von Mises stresses as well as low-cycle fatigue analyses to determine the number of cycles to failure (initiation of through-thickness crack). These results show that certain turbine models are more susceptible to these loads than others. Several analyses indicate yielding at the turbine base and resonant conditions. The results from these analyses identify several critical issues within the wind turbine design and operation protocol

Identification of New Keynesian Phillips Curves from a Global Perspective

New Keynesian Phillips Curves (NKPC) have been extensively used in the analysis of monetary policy, but yet there are a number of issues of concern about how they are estimated and then related to the underlying macroeconomic theory. The first is whether such equations are identified. To check identification requires specifying the process for the forcing variables (typically the output gap) and solving the model for inflation in terms of the observables. In practice, the equation is estimated by GMM, relying on statistical criteria to choose instruments. This may result in failure of identification or weak instruments. Secondly, the NKPC is usually derived as a part of a DSGE model, solved by log-linearising around a steady state and the variables are then measured in terms of deviations from the steady state. In practice the steady states, e.g. for output, are usually estimated by some statistical procedure such as the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter that might not be appropriate. Thirdly, there are arguments that other variables, e.g. interest rates, foreign inflation and foreign output gaps should enter the Phillips curve. This paper examines these three issues and argues that all three benefit from a global perspective. The global perspective provides additional instruments to alleviate the weak instrument problem, yields a theoretically consistent measure of the steady state and provides a natural route for foreign inflation or output gap to enter the NKPC.New Keynesian Phillips Curve, identification, Global VAR (GVAR), trend-cycle decomposition